A lot folks seem to be saying that the idea behind a simple boxed set version of D&D has been a long time coming, and that TSR/WotC should have done this ages ago.  I’d like to point out that they have.  When I was teenager, I loved trolling my local Kay Bee toy store for D&D stuff.  That store seemed to buy into every attempt TSR made in this area, and it would invariably fail, and then I would pick it up at deep discount (often something insane like $2 or $3 each).  Unfortunately the low price and my young age combined to me not taking very good care of these things, so not as many of them still reside on my shelves as used to, but I definitely recall buying them.  So, let’s review past boxed sets of D&D I’ve owned.

In 1991 the 16th edition of basic D&D was released.  Distributed in a rather standard sized board game box (think large flat landscape), it altered the format a bit from earlier editions as well by printing all the pages of the rulebook on individual cards set in a folder.  Make no mistake though, this was the same content we’ve seen since the Mentzer era.  It also included a rather clever adventure with full board-sized map that detailed an escape from a prison.  The interesting thing about the adventure was that the encounters were built to introduce a single rule at a time.  For example, in one room you’d find melee weapons and learn about melee combat.  The next one had ranged weapons, etc.  In fact, I believe you started play with nothing more than a name, and only learned race and class through course of play.  Sadly, this is one of the boxes I no longer own.  I wish I still had it.

In 1992 we saw Dragon Quest, yet another re-boxing of the basic rules, but this time we get a full board-game style board to play on instead of just a poster-sized paper mat.  The D&D branding is clearly there, and it even claims to be an “introduction to adventure gaming”.  Also came with that awesome over-produced set of adventurer minis originally made for the Dungeon! board game, of which I’m sure I have at least two sets at home.  I think I still have this box in my basement somewhere.  I recall dragging it out once during college when we decided it would be very amusing to try and roleplay drunk (which turns out not actually to be any fun at all).  We picked this game as it seemed to be the lightest version of the game we could find.

And finally, in 1995 we get First Quest, interestingly billed as an “Introduction to Role-Playing Games”, and yet clearly also bearing the “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition” logo.  This is a bizarre stripped down version of AD&D 2e and includes and audio CD that attempts to replace the DM.  It worked pretty much as well as you’d expect it to.  I was most amused by the fact that dialog was included in the audio for the player characters, and the voice actors actually refer to each other simply as “Fighter”, “Cleric”, “Magic-User” and “Thief”.  I know TSR and WotC have come up with some lame names for their iconic characters of late, but this game didn’t even try and it just sounds painful.  I definitely held onto this gem, along with all the other Mystara Audio CD adventures it led to.  I assume based on the presence of subsequent adventures that it at least didn’t completely bomb, or perhaps they simply produced the base set and several modules all in one go.

So there you have it.  Clearly, introductory boxed sets of D&D have had a long and continuous history.  I know there are also 3rd and 4th edition introductory boxed sets out there as well, but Kay Bee stopped carrying them at that point and I never bothered to pick them up.

So, it looks like WotC is releasing a new introductory boxed set, and you can certainly tell from the image what they’re harkening back to.  While there are some elements, box art included, that have a retro inspiration, clearly the contents will be some version of the latest (4th) edition of the game.  Let’s look at it feature by feature:

• 32-page book for players, with rules for character creation and a solo adventure

OK, a nice trim book for players is a good thing, and a focus on character creation is probably wise.  Not so sure about the solo adventure.  Those things always seem neat, but then, well, they’re about as much fun as any choose your own adventure style book.

• 64-page book for Dungeon Masters, with the rules of the game, advice on how to run the game, and adventure content

Longer more involved book for the DM is pretty traditional.  While in general I do kind of prefer a game simple enough to not require two books, there is something attractive about actually trying to include practical advise on how to run a game.  Whether the advise is any good remains to be seen.

• 2 sheets of die-cut tokens for characters and monsters
• Double-sided dungeon map

I orginally thought “meh” about these, assuming they are optional to play.  Personally I’m not much into using miniatures in my games right now, but if and when I change my mind I’ll probably prefer nicely painted minis to tokens.  But then, what if they aren’t optional, and the game requires them to play?  That would not make me very happy.

• Cardstock character sheets and power cards

Oh boy, here we go.  Nothing says your character is nothing but a collection of stats quite like nothing to write on.  Where do I draw maps, a sketch of my character, write the names of important NPCs, write down notes about my personality, or otherwise include any information whatsoever that makes my character unique and interesting?

• 6 polyhedral dice

Isn’t that one too few?

At the beginning of January we started a new campaign, and we’re using Labyrinth Lord.  I hope my readers will forgive me for posting infrequently about this, and being a bit guarded when I do, but I believe a few of my players likely read this blog and I don’t want to spoil anything for them.

In fact, if you do want a synopsis of the game, check out BigFella’s blog.  He’s one of my players, and to date has been really great about writing up some pretty detailed play session reports.

Let me talk about the game in some broad strokes though.  First off, I was fairly inspired by James Maliszewski’s approach to story: basically make it up as you go along.  I wanted a game that would grow organically.  However, unlike the grognard, I’m not particularly taken with the idea of a megadungeon.  I prefer sprawling wildernesses dotted with smaller locations and dungeons to one giant monolithic dungeon.

So I took as my starting point L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (don’t read it players!)  It gives a nice starting town with a few things around and plenty of room to grow.  And then, well, then I stopped planning and started playing.  Sure, I was worried it would end up just a cut and dry running of that game.  I was worried that eventually it would run out of material and I wouldn’t know what to do next.  These things could still happen, but I suspect not.

I’ve found interesting little twists slowly getting introduced into the game that have nothing to do with the original text.  Apparently the Inn of the Dying Minotaur is a medievel Bennigans, complete with chearful staff and overpriced food.  Falco’s Tavern, on the other hand, is now named the Red Cask after the brightly painted cask behind the bar (drinks from which cost an extra sp), and is a dive full of itinerant workers and mercenaries.  I’m especially enjoying playing Pelltar the Magician, who is certainly not your typical Gandalfian old grey-beard, but a lively gentleman with a wry sense of humor and a somewhat overbearing personality.

Flavor aside, more interesting is that I find my players often asking why.  Why is there a secret underground beneath an old burnt out guard post?  Why does the furniture and decoration in there have many hexagonal motifs?  These questions are the ultimate spur to my creativity, as I find I had better well know the answers before the players start looking for them in earnest.  Don’t worry players, I do!  Though it certainly didn’t come from the text.  In fact, even if they did read L1, they’d find no answers in there about who created that place or what became of them.

Obviously, everything is still very much in the early stages.  I think we’ve had all of three or four sessions so far.  The players are still all level 1, though the thief is mighty close to level 2.  And most of all, I’m really enjoying playing.  And that’s just what I’m doing.  For last night’s session, I wrote up and printed out a letter to one of the PCs, but that’s pretty much all the prep work I’ve done so far.  It’s fantastic.